Exemplary embodiments relate to a semiconductor memory device and, more particularly, to a semiconductor memory device having a multi-plane structure.
A semiconductor memory device may perform a copyback program operation. The copyback program operation is an operation for reading data of a specific page included in a plane and programming the read data in another page of the specific plane or in another plane. In other words, data of a specific page is copied and stored.
In a conventional semiconductor memory device, data is not transferred between a group of planes forming a memory block when an operation, such as copyback, is performed. Instead, the data must be transferred through an external controller to store the data in another plane. If data is transferred through an external controller, the controller includes cache memory for storing the data read from a memory cell. Also, the time taken to perform the copyback operation through an external controller is longer than if the method was performed within a chip.